Former Hawthorn premiership star Lewis backing exteammate Mitchell to excel as the new senior mentor
HAWTHORN premiership star Jordan Lewis is backing ex-teammate Sam Mitchell to succeed as Alastair Clarkson’s successor, but warns he will need support.
The titanic development that Clarkson would coach only until season’s end rather than next year had “no doubt” heaped more pressure on Mitchell, Lewis said.
Complicating those matters is the Hawks could still finish last on the ladder this year and appear likely to be in a rebuilding phase for the foreseeable future.
“He’s thrust into the senior coaching role when he (previously) admitted he didn’t think he was ready to be in it,” Lewis told SEN radio.
“He would have thought he had another 12 months to coach Box Hill and get that experience under his belt, yet everything’s been fast-forwarded.
“I think the way everything’s transpired – the handover and the way it’s ended (and) all the messaging out of Hawthorn – adds to the pressure.
“He’s unfortunately a coach who will be under scrutiny straight away, when we thought he had time to get this list together.”
Lewis emphatically endorsed Mitchell’s senior coaching potential, but cautioned that no one really knew whether anyone would be a great AFL coach until they were in the job.
“You’ve got to understand you have to put people around you, develop a list and be able to make your players believe in what you’re selling,” he said.
“That’s the challenge. Is his football intellect there? Absolutely. He’s the smartest player I ever played with – but how that’s conveyed to the group is his greatest challenge.
“There will be moments in the early parts of Sam Mitchell’s career (that) the club will have to stand by him.”
Lewis also admitted how alarmed he was at the increasing but unfamiliar instability that’s suddenly showing from the Hawks’ succession plan, which failed before it even started.